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Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not
used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad
quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are
images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to
keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the
original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain
imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made
available for future generations to enjoy.
No gamble in history has been more momentous than the landfall of
Columbus's ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 - an event
that paved the way for the conquest of a 'New World'. The accounts
collected here provide a vivid narrative of his voyages throughout
the Caribbean and finally to the mainland of Central America,
although he still believed he had reached Asia. Columbus himself is
revealed as a fascinating and contradictory figure, fluctuating
from awed enthusiasm to paranoia and eccentric geographical
speculation. Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious
desire to bring Christian civilization to 'savages' matched by his
rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman
of staggering vision and achievement.
The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made
available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of
exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899,
consists of 100 books containing published or previously
unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir
Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and
Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. Volume 2, published in
1847, consists of letters of Christopher Columbus to the Treasurer
of the King and Queen of Spain, describing his first, third and
fourth voyages, and a letter from Diego Alvarez Chanca, a royal
physician who went on the second voyage and reported his
experiences to the town council of Seville. In this edition by R.
H. Major, the letters are given in the original Latin and Spanish
with an English translation, editor's preface, explanatory notes
and index.
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